Why Digital Art Is Cool

Last week I discovered a terrific post on the blog "The Art Of Being An Artist" about digital art. The artist listed what she loved about digital art and it made me stop and think. I do love digital art and yet too often I find myself complaining about people that seem to think digital art is easy, fast, or somehow "magic". I am also often perplexed by some "old school" artists that do not yet have their mind around the new medium and often they tend to lump all digital art into one big bag, as though it is all the same. Tomorrow I will post a few links to some really diverse and talented digital artists.
With all that said, I really do adore digital art. Here is my brief list of what is cool about digital art:
#1 No drying time! Unlike oils I do not have to wait a week to ship while canvas dries.
#2 Unlimited exploration. There is always something new to learn in Photoshop. No matter how good I get at my digital craft or how much I know, there will always be more to learn.
#3 Layers, layers layers. I love working in layers in Photoshop and having the ability to turn layers on and off to see different color options. Just reducing a layer's opacity will make all the difference sometimes.
#4 I can do it anywhere. All I need to travel with is my laptop and my small wacom tablet. I can have an entire art studio in my laptop bag.
#5 Excuse to buy more technology. We purchase a new Mac about every 2 years. If this was not my full-time job I would probably still be getting by on my old G-3 from 1999.
#6 Digital is clean. As much as we strive to create a loose and messy painterly look on our artwork, we never get paint on our clothes or have to clean up dirty brushes.